The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released in recent days its annual National Trade Estimate, a review of U.S. trade ties and barriers on a country-by-country basis. The U.S. is continuing efforts to combat trade barriers, such as arbitrary testing, labeling and certifications, sanitary and phytosanitary measures and high, trade-inhibiting tariffs, said USTR in the NTE (here). The review also placed particular emphasis on corruption as a trade barrier, saying bribery and other forms of corruption impacts customs and licensing and has the potential to “negate market access gained through trade negotiations.”
Foreign governments continue to routinely use local content requirements for domestic telecommunications infrastructure, restricting engagement in trade and global supply chains, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a review of telecommunications provisions in free trade agreements and World Trade Organization pacts. The U.S. will continue to pressure removal of those barriers to put in place “market-oriented” commerce, said the agency in its annual review, released April 1 (here).
Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Wendy Cutler will speak to the Japan Society of New York on bilateral negotiations in the Trans-Pacific Partnership on March 30, the Office of the USTR said in its weekly schedule. The U.S. and Japan are still working on market access arrangements in TPP (see 1503230011). The next day, USTR Michael Froman will meet with a top Chilean trade official, and on April 1 USTR's chief agriculture negotiator Darci Vetter will speak on TPP to the California State Board of Food and Agriculture.
Trans-Pacific Partnership investment provisions aim to hit back against expropriation and discriminatory treatment of foreign investment, but the investment chapter leaves the door open for challenges to government policies that violate investor “expectations,” according what's said to be text of the chapter released by WikiLeaks on March 25 (here). The chapter is dated Jan. 20, and marked “confidential.” The text focuses largely on investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), the investor tribunal U.S. trade opponents, as well as some legal scholars, widely and aggressively criticize (see 1503120011).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is asking for public comments on a U.S. challenge in February to Chinese export subsidies in textile, shrimp and other sectors (here). The U.S. asked for consultations with China in the case, and the U.S. hasn't yet requested a formal dispute panel (see 1502110022). Comments are due by April 15 via www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2015-0004.
Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Wendy Cutler will meet with Japanese trade negotiator Takeo Mori in Washington on March 23 to hammer out progress on bilateral auto trade issues in Trans-Pacific Partnership talks, the Office of the USTR said in its weekly schedule update (here). On March 25, USTR Michael Froman will then speak to a closed-door State Department meeting that brings together chief officers at U.S. diplomatic missions globally. Froman will then give remarks the next day to the National Council of Textile Organizations. Chief USTR agricultural negotiator Darci Vetter will also speak behind closed doors to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association on March 26. Assistant USTR for the Western Hemisphere John Melle will, on the same day, participate in a Central American Free Trade Agreement meeting in Santo Domingo.
The U.S. delegation in Geneva asked the World Trade Organization on March 18 to set up a dispute settlement panel over “wide-ranging” Indonesian restrictions on agricultural imports, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said. USTR called the Indonesian import license regime “trade-restrictive,” and said Indonesia continues to increase restrictions on the license regulations since first putting them in place in 2012. Indonesia also unfairly restricts imports of certain products and sales of agricultural products within the country, said USTR. The affected products cross the spectrum of meat, fruits and vegetables, the agency said. USTR Michael Froman and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, along with several lawmakers, applauded the U.S. request as another example of the Obama administration’s strong record on WTO disputes during a March 18 press conference.
U.S. Trade Representative chief textile negotiator Gail Strickler didn’t show up for the March 9-15 Hawaii round of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations and her absence was widely noticed among stakeholders, industry officials said the day after the talks concluded. While notable, industry lobbyists differed on the impact of her absence. Nonetheless, textile talks with Vietnam are almost finished, said one lobbyist.
U.S. and Pakistani senior officials reviewed progress on the Joint Action Plan for implementation of the bilateral trade and investment partnership (TIFA) on March 12, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a statement (here). The U.S. and Pakistan have made headway in facilitating Pakistani mango exports to the U.S. and U.S. live cattle exports to Pakistan, said USTR. The two sides announced the action plan nearly a year ago, and at the time vowed to use that forum to sharpen intellectual property rights protections and implement the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement, among other goals (see 14051326). The March 12 meeting came between TIFA formal sessions, said USTR. The March 12 summit also followed a March 9-12 trade trip by the Commerce Secretary and 140 representatives from U.S. companies, across a wide range of sectors. USTR called that trip a "success."
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is taking a break from public events this week, following the wrap-up of Trans-Pacific Partnership chief negotiator talks in Hawaii (see 1503110066). USTR didn't respond for comment on the talks. Meanwhile, USTR Michael Froman will speak to a closed-door Business Forward event on March 18 on the status of TPP and other trade negotiations, USTR said in its weekly schedule (here). Deputy USTR Robert Holleyman will also speak to the National Lieutenant Governors Association in Washington on March 18. Froman will then travel to Brussels on March 20 for meetings presumably focused on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.